You put your head in , or your head out?
Do you sleep in the loft - is that what you're about?

Ok, so I'm having a debate with a fellow hiker who said most people sleep with their heads facing OUT, I say facing IN to the back wall.

What's your opinion, and the pros and cons of either. :)

PS - Multiple choices available.

doggiebag

12-18-2007, 22:18

Head in - less exposure to the wind and at least the bears will grab your feet instead of your head.

Bearpaw

12-18-2007, 22:18

I sleep with my head in toward the back wall. I'd rather someone step on my feet than my face in the middle of the night.

BTW: Lone Wolf, we already know you don't sleep in shelters. This should have been an option in the original question. :)

Lone Wolf

12-18-2007, 22:19

BTW: Lone Wolf, we already know you don't sleep in shelters. This should have been an option in the original question. :)

i wasn't gonna say a word

sasquatch2014

12-18-2007, 22:20

Both of the previous reasons are the reasopns why head is at the back wall when I sleep in the shelter and on the floor. doesn't count for when I hang in the shelter.

Smile

12-18-2007, 22:20

LW; Well, I was going to quote you, but I just put it a different way out of respect for any copyright violations :)

Bearpaw

12-18-2007, 22:21

i wasn't gonna say a word

I'm glad they added the option.

Hikerhead

12-18-2007, 22:25

The few times I've spent in shelters I try to sleep with my feet to the wall. Mice like to run along the walls.

Tabasco

12-18-2007, 22:38

Summertime head out, mice at back wall, more air flow

wintertime, head in: no mice, less air flow

saimyoji

12-18-2007, 22:47

Don't you start with your head in then put your head out, then put your head in again, then out again?

Then shake it all about? Is there a set time for the shaking, like a big group shake, or do you just shake whenever you are ready?:-?

Tabasco

12-18-2007, 22:55

shaking is after # 1, wiping is after # 2

more than 3 shakes is considered playing though.....

Smile

12-18-2007, 23:14

T M I.

Jim Adams

12-19-2007, 02:15

only stay in shelters in extremely bad weather...ALWAYS head out.

Top Ten Reasons To Sleep In A Shelter With Your Head Out.

10. Mice run along walls.
9. Easy to sit up w/o hitting my head on the roof.
8. Not walking over my stuff to get into my bag.
7. Not breathing shelter dust.
6. Looking out at the stars when I turn over.
5. Always knowing immediately when the weather comes into the shelter instead of when it soaks through to my legs and feet.
4. Putting my pack under my feet where it is not out in the weather.
3. Easy to get out in the night to pee.
2. Keeping my head from being stepped on because it is high enough for everyone to stand erect.
1. Fresh air to breath when everyone farts.

ChinMusic

12-19-2007, 02:21

The loft would be my LAST choice. I hate spiders.

jackpot

12-19-2007, 02:25

Head-out, gotta see whats going on!!

JAK

12-19-2007, 02:50

I would stay in one in the winter, alone with the critters. The loft sounds splendid, or the back of the shelter perhaps, with the spindrifts, as the wind howls through the night and chases the moon across the fields and through the trees.

In an Old Barn

Tons upon tons the brown-green fragrant hay
O'erbrims the mows beyond the time-warped eaves,
Up to the rafters where the spider weaves,
Though few flies wander his secluded way.
Through a high chink one lonely golden ray,
Wherein the dust is dancing, slants unstirred.
In the dry hush some rustlings light are heard,
Of winter-hidden mice at furtive play.

Far down, the cattle in their shadowed stalls,
Nose-deep in clover fodder's meadowy scent,
Forget the snows that whelm their pasture streams,
The frost that bites the world beyond their walls.
Warm housed, they dream of summer, well content
In day-long contemplation of their dreams.

mrc237

12-19-2007, 08:36

Only stay in extreme weather, I'm an innie!

Frolicking Dinosaurs

12-19-2007, 09:45

I've only used a shelter once - many years ago - winds were about 60 MPH and the rain was pounding. I was supposed to be on a day hike so wasn't really prepared for sleeping - did have a poncho-tarp and large emergency blanket. I was the only one there so I slept about 2/3 of the way back parallel to the door and covered the opening part way with my tarp. Still had trouble with the mice. Never say never, but it would take more than 60 MPH wind with pounding rain to get me to sleep in a shelter again.

LIhikers

12-19-2007, 10:36

Which way I sleep depends on the weather. If it's nice I like to sleep with my head closest to the open side. Then the worse the weather is the farther I try to get from it.

Heater

12-19-2007, 15:04

shaking is after # 1, wiping is after # 2

more than 3 shakes is considered playing though.....

When you shake more than 3 times, god kills a kitten. :eek:

doggiebag

12-19-2007, 15:12

When you shake more than 3 times, god kills a kitten. :eek:

Please think of the kittens.

2844

Doctari

12-19-2007, 15:43

When I did stay in shelters, I slept with my head UP. I found that the shelters usually had a slope either towards the opening or away from it, I slept which ever direction put my head higher than my feet, most times. For a while, I even carried a 2" level just to determine that direction easier :rolleyes:

Now I voted that shelters are lame & I don't stay in them.

Smile

12-19-2007, 17:06

Top Ten Reasons To Sleep In A Shelter With Your Head Out.

10. Mice run along walls.
9. Easy to sit up w/o hitting my head on the roof.
8. Not walking over my stuff to get into my bag.
7. Not breathing shelter dust.
6. Looking out at the stars when I turn over.
5. Always knowing immediately when the weather comes into the shelter instead of when it soaks through to my legs and feet.
4. Putting my pack under my feet where it is not out in the weather.
3. Easy to get out in the night to pee.
2. Keeping my head from being stepped on because it is high enough for everyone to stand erect.
1. Fresh air to breath when everyone farts.

These are some of the best reasons I have seen to date. Great list! :)

1azarus

12-19-2007, 17:13

I've only used a shelter once - many years ago - winds were about 60 MPH and the rain was pounding. I was supposed to be on a day hike so wasn't really prepared for sleeping - did have a poncho-tarp and large emergency blanket. I was the only one there so I slept about 2/3 of the way back parallel to the door and covered the opening part way with my tarp. Still had trouble with the mice. Never say never, but it would take more than 60 MPH wind with pounding rain to get me to sleep in a shelter again.

Wow, FD, I bet even LW has stayed in a shelter more than once! I wonder how many WB'rs have NEVER stayed in a shelter. Your once may be close to a record!

Tin Man

12-19-2007, 17:30

Wow, FD, I bet even LW has stayed in a shelter more than once! I wonder how many WB'rs have NEVER stayed in a shelter. Your once may be close to a record!

That may not be a fair comparison. The question should be miles/shelter stay. FD, how many miles of the AT have you completed?

Newb

12-20-2007, 08:56

The guy who actually created the hokey pokey dance for a local radio show died this past summer here in Alexandria. A lot of people turned out for his funeral, he was a bit of a local hero.

The sad thing was that they had some trouble at the gravesite actually putting the coffin in the ground. It was a very uncomfortable moment. While they were lowering the coffin his right arm came out. They put it back in the coffin but then his right leg came out. Finally, to end the ceremony, they had to shove him in the coffin and shake it all about. That's how they put him down.

JAK

12-20-2007, 09:30

When you shake more than 3 times, god kills a kitten. :eek:But no matter how much you wriggle and dance, the last few drops go in your pants.

AT-HITMAN2005

12-20-2007, 11:32

depends on the weather, and space.

head in when its raining, with a garbage bag over the foot of the down bag if its blowing rain, or small overhang. head out otherwise, seems like a little more air flow.especially when its hot.(i'm such a sound sleeper mice never bothered me)
i only slept in the loft if the bottom was taken, too much of a pain to get up and try to climb down a ladder in the middle of the night to pee.

Deadeye

12-20-2007, 12:38

Many variables to consider, but I usually sleep head-in, next to a wall, so I can use a log as a head rest. If mice are a problem, I'm hangin' outside anyway.